Barca could be a Bridge too far

Many great minds in football — and Alan Shearer — have struggled to explain how Chelsea have gone from being serial losers to serial winners in the space of just a few weeks, from a team which was written off as, appropriately enough, almost pensionable, to one which can now look forward to Champions League and FA Cup semi-finals.

But I quite liked Brazilian midfielder Ramires’ stab at solving the conundrum this week.

“It’s difficult to explain the change in our fortunes,” he conceded, “but we have begun to realise we are a great team with great players.”